Transcript for Obama on Terror Threat: 'Violent Extremists Are Still Out There'

Now, to president obama, going on late-night tv, directly addressing the terror threats that caused the closure of so many embassies and evacuations of americans from yemen. Abc's jonathan karl has the latest and joins us now from washington. Good morning, jon. Reporter: Good morning, robin. It was the first time the president has said anything at all about that worldwide terror threat. And it came in an appearance on jay leno. The ongoing terror warning issued by the state department is ominous. Americans traveling virtually anywhere in the world told to be on high alert for a possible terrorist attack. Talking with jay leno, the president sought to downplay the threat. The odds of people dieing in a terrorist attack, obviously, are still a lot lower than in a car accident, unfortunately. Reporter: Still, he said -- violent extremism is still out there. You know, we've got to stay on top of it. Reporter: The president also addressed russia's decision to grant political asylum to nsa leaker edward snowden, despite the white house's repeated pleas to turn him over. There's been time where's they slip back into cold war thinking. And the cold war mentality. And what I consistently say to them and what I say to president putin is, that's the past. Reporter: Leno also asked about hillary clinton, the former secretary of state, who has emerged as the front-runner for the democratic presidential nomination in 2016. They had lunch just last week. She had that post administration glow. Reporter: Leno asked if she was measuring the drapes in the oval office. Keep in mind, she's been there before. She doesn't have to measure them. Reporter: The president told leno, despite russia's decision to grant edward snowden asylum, he would be attending a meeting of world leaders in st. Petersburg, russia, in september. But he did not say if he would also be going to a planned one-on-one meeting with putin in moscow. The white house suggested that might be canceled.

This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.

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